Before we knew David Thetford as the voice of LISD he was simply a basketball player at Monterey High School, a pretty good one in fact. His success on the court led him to Texas Tech.
“Ended up going out there and walking on to play basketball ended up playing two years on a team called the picadors which back in that time was the freshman team, and I played two years on the freshman team which was kind of unique,” Thetford said.
After his unique experience with the picadors Thetford went into coaching at area schools,
“I think I went into coaching because of the basketball I just love being around the sport and the players. I coached for five years the first two years at Lubbock high then i moved over to Coronado and coached three years over at Coronado”
When Thetford was done with coaching he still wanted to remain involved in sports, that led him from the sidelines to the broadcast booth where he’s been calling LISD athletics since 1984.
Thetford thanked the legendary Jack Dale as his inspiration to get into play by play,
“like a lot of kids you grew up listening to the legend of Texas Tech Jack Dale the voice of the Red Raiders for 50 years. I used to play out in my driveway and I would do Jack Dale doing me playing the other southwest conference teams back during that day.”
In 1992 Thetford joined his idol Dale on the radio. In 2009 he and fellow LISD hall of honor inductee Gary Ashby started their own show, sports talk with Thetford and Ashby.
“We decided when we had our very first talk about it, was that we were going to have fun and if we weren’t having fun then we weren’t going to do it and then if people liked that and wanted to join in and be a part of that it would be great.”
Without a doubt David Thetford is one of LISD athletics greatest ambassadors. Although coaches and players have come and gone, Thetford’s voice has been a constant through the rivalries and matchups we’ll never forget.
“You know you think about it I’ve been going to school here since the sixties and now here we are in 2017 and here we are going to Monterey Coronado, Lubbock High Monterey, and Estacado Coronado. You know just amazing that I’m still involved with that and still get to be a part of it I’m really very thankful that I have the opportunity to do that.”